Elon Musk aims for $2 trillion in federal budget cuts

During an interview, Elon Musk described $2 trillion worth of federal budget cuts as a good goal to reach. During the review of what could be cut, Musk and his team discovered government waste “in all directions”. Musk utilized a metaphor of being in a room full of targets in every direction. Even if you were “blindfolded”, you would still hit a target. Musk acknowledged that there are people in the government willing to wisely spend other people’s money, but the system prevents them from doing so.

From Newsmax:

While admitting that the target goal of cutting $2 trillion from the U.S. budget is overly optimistic, Elon Musk said his plan still could result in “an epic outcome” of “no inflation.”

After Musk and fellow businessman Vivek Ramaswamy were named by President-elect Donald Trump to head the advisory Department of Government Efficiency, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said he could save the government at least $2 trillion.

During an X interview Wednesday with political strategist Mark Penn, Musk admitted the goal was high.

“I think we’ll try for $2 trillion. I think that’s like the best-case outcome,” Musk told Penn. “But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting one.

“And if we drop the budget deficit from $2 trillion to $1 trillion and kind of free up the economy to have additional growth such that the output of goods and services keeps pace with the increase in the money supply, then there will be no inflation. That, I think, would be an epic outcome.”

Musk added that the current “target-rich” government environment — “if you look in any direction” — offers many ways to save money.

“It’s like being in a room with targets,” he said. “You could close your eyes and you can’t miss.

“There’s just a lot of waste in government because … especially the federal government … you just got a situation where the checks never bounce. Like they’ve got the infinite money computer.”

Additional Reading:

McCarthy, C. (2025, January 9). Musk: $2T in budget cuts ‘best-case outcome’. Newsmax. Link.

Category: Government Incompetence